The lost Congressman

March 1, 2020 1:56 PM

The turbulent life and mysterious death of Jeremiah Haralson, the last black Congressman from Alabama until 1992.
posted by Chrysostom (4 comments total)

It's definitely one area where my modern bias is at play, but I still tend to be flummoxed by how easily Republicans ceded power to the Southern Democrats during the Reconstruction and Gilded age era. I understand that Northern Republicans were not really friends of minorities (Roosevelt especially), but at the same time I'm baffled that they just rolled over and abandoned any political viability to the Redeemers like Wade Hampton and Ben Tillman. Like, really, James Blaine and Rutherford Hayes, Mark Hanna? I thought you guys liked having as much power as possible.

But no, they were just fine with political violence against their Southern colleagues, or when entire state electoral systems were rigged to the exclusion of their candidates, white or black. The past truly is a foreign country.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 3:24 PM on March 1, 2020

My mental process was "black man with power in the South in Reconstruction? Killed by racists." Which granted they don't actually ever pin down, but I'm still betting on killed by racists. Probably at the prison and death not recorded because there was a small possibility someone might investigate.

What boggles me is apparently whoever was writing the Congressional biography just... made up like 20 years of life! I don't know if they were embarrassed by the 'convicted and probably killed by racists' bit, or fantasizing a better world.
posted by tavella at 4:21 PM on March 1, 2020

But no, they were just fine with political violence against their Southern colleagues, or when entire state electoral systems were rigged to the exclusion of their candidates, white or black. The past truly is a foreign country.

I have some bad news.
posted by mhoye at 5:11 PM on March 1, 2020 [6 favorites]

These articles are astounding. What a detailed historical investigation!

I still tend to be flummoxed by how easily Republicans ceded power to the Southern Democrats

I used to be more flummoxed but after reading Foner's history of Reconstruction and watching this PBS documentary I understand it more. Power literally was ceded just six days after the end of the civil war, when Lincoln was assassinated and Johnson (a Democrat) took over. Johnson was terrible for many reasons and clearly not committed to Reconstruction. Neither were half the Republicans. Add in Southern recalcitrance and angry patience, a North that eventually got tired of occupying half the country, and then a bunch of corruption in the Grant administration and basically the political class made a total fucking mess out of Reconstruction.
posted by Nelson at 7:13 PM on March 2, 2020